The Best Things in Life Are Free (film)
| runtime = 104 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget =$1.16 millionSolomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. . p250 | gross = $2.7 million | website = }} The Best Things in Life Are Free is a 1956 American musical film directed by Michael Curtiz. The film stars Gordon MacRae, Dan Dailey and Ernest Borgnine as the real-life songwriting team of Buddy DeSylva, Lew Brown and Ray Henderson of the late 1920s and early 1930s; and Sheree North as Kitty Kane, a singer (possibly based on Helen Kane). In 1957, the year after the film was released, it received an Oscar nomination for Lionel Newman in the category of Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture. Cast *Gordon MacRae as Buddy DeSylva *Dan Dailey as Ray Henderson *Ernest Borgnine as Lew Brown *Sheree North as Kitty Kane *Tommy Noonan as Carl Frisbee *Murvyn Vye as Manny Costain *Phyllis Avery as Maggie Henderson *Larry Keating as Winfield Sheehan *Tony Galento as Fingers *Norman Brooks as Al Jolson *Jacques d'Amboise as Specialty dancer *Roxanne Arlen as Perky Nichols *Byron Palmer as Hollywood star Reception Critical response Premiering in September-1956, The Best Things in Life Are Free was greeted with mixed to positive critical acclaim. Some reviews called it "the biggest new musical this year" and others "a musical-comedy that could've been produced on a higher budget with bigger and better production numbers". Box office performance Being a musical, though a modestly produced one, the movie was fairly expensive to produce. The film ended with a budget of $2.86 million and made just over $4 million at the box office, earning $2,250,000 in North American rentals in 1956.'The Top Box-Office Hits of 1956', Variety Weekly, January 2, 1957 Songs *'"Lucky Day" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Dan Dailey *'"If I Had a Talking Picture of You" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Byron Palmer *'"Here Am I, Broken Hearted" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Gordon MacRae *'"Button up Your Overcoat" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Dan Dailey and Gordon MacRae *'"Good News" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Gordon MacRae *'"You're the Cream in My Coffee" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Dan Dailey *'"The Best Things in Life Are Free" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Sheree North (dubbed by Eileen Wilson) *'"Lucky in Love" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Gordon MacRae *'"Black Bottom" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Danced by Sheree North and Jacques d'Amboise *'"Birth of the Blues" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Danced by Sheree North and Jacques d'Amboise *'"Sonny Boy" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva :Sung by Norman Brooks *'"Follow Thru" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva *'"One More Time" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva *'"Thank Your Father" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva *'"This Is the Missus" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown *'"Together" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva *'It All Depends on You" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva *'"You Try Somebody Else (We'll Be Back Together Again)" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva *'''Without Love" :Music by Ray Henderson :Lyrics by Lew Brown and Buddy G. DeSylva References External links * * *http://www.zelluloid.de/filme/index.php3?id=29359 (in German) *http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=17171 *https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1808735971/info Category:1956 films Category:1950s biographical films Category:1950s musical films Category:20th Century Fox films Category:American films Category:American biographical films Category:American musical films Category:English-language films Category:Films about composers Category:Films directed by Michael Curtiz Category:Films scored by Lionel Newman Category:Films set in the 1920s